Distance
by ShadowSector
Summary: He lived most of his life not caring. He lived most of his life doing what is necessary to survive and live, rarely enjoying anything other than his long given solitude and isolation. Always independent and isolated from people and emotions. Next thing he knows, little by little, things twist and change, all in a way he is not used to, all in a way in which he grows from afraid.
1. Introduction

**Victor's P.O.V**

I always hated this part of the month. Always so boring and so time-consuming. Nothing fun about doing this; spending an entirety of three days searching for materials that I need. From the morning till dusk I walk around in the middle of this empty world, looking for the items that I need to have restocked for my sake and the sake of my empty town because if I don't, I'll die or everything I have will break down. It's all just annoying, going back and forth from one place to the other. The worst part of all of this is the fact that I have to listen to myself complain just because I'm a lazy piece of trash.

But of course, I always managed to convince myself that everything is fine and to deal with it because, at the cost of three cruel days of work, I in exchange give myself freedom for the rest of the month, which sounds very pleasant to my ears, the ears of a damn couch potato. Three days of hard work; twenty-seven days of peace. A good deal that is always worth it to me. Still, regardless of the amount of freedom I give myself, these three days are still sons of bitches to deal with. I haul ass from the forest to the cave, and then to my town, and then to the mountains and plains, and then back to my town. In the midst of all of the traveling, I have to fight monsters that want to be hindrances to my momentum and carry a shit ton of supplies, making sure I don't lose or forget any of them.

Of course, on top of all of that I have to feed myself, keep myself hydrated, and well rested because just like anyone else with humanity, I don't want to die or pass out in the worst possible location. Luckily, today was the last day of this monthly bullcrap. The last errand I needed to accomplish was to gather wood and replant any trees I chopped down; all of which was going very well and smoothly. My only worry in this minute, however, was the fact that it was dark and in this world, the dark brings monsters; such an annoying occurrence.

Well, as of right now, it doesn't matter since I am almost done. All I was doing was chopping this final tree. The irritating sound of my ax hitting the bark of the tree repeated over and over again. At this point in my life, such a short sound became sickness to my mind. Nevertheless, after a couple of seconds, the tree became the victim of my continuous action and fell down. Multiple pieces of wood fell to the floor, spreading across a small area. It was a nice sight; the view was a depiction of my finished work.

Ever so happily with myself, I crouched down and picked up the pieces of wood and placed them in my backpack. All I had to do now was head back home, to the town that I have built. As I stood back up, I looked at my digital watch; it was 9:54 PM. It wasn't too late that it would be a big problem, but neither was it early enough so I could have an easy stroll back to where I'm supposed to be. How much I wished it was, though.

I looked at the dark sky, plated with stars all over and one shiny white moon. It was a nice sight, very relaxing. As if nature had a cue, a nice and subtle wind began to blow, giving me a chilly feeling that gave me goosebumps. The trees around me whistled and their leaves danced along with the air, creating a nice soothing ambiance. Moments like these are always to be appreciated. Almost never are these types of moments bad.

Cutting myself off of my trance, I looked back down and turned in the direction in which my town was located. All I had to do now, was _the_ walk. Without any further delay, I began to move my legs.

It was all very quiet. Very surprising. Normally at this point in time, I would hear tons of horrendous and monstrous sounds coming from every angle possible. Groans, screeches, crackings; all of those pertaining to the monsters that would show up on schedule. But no, none of those were nowhere to be heard from. It was nothing but the wind and my calm, silent footsteps.


	2. Introduction: Part 2

**Victor's P.O.V**

I looked around the landscape in search of a horrendous creature to become displayed within my sight, however, there wasn't one thing anywhere to be found. Today must be my lucky day. After all of my whining, it seems that destiny has chosen to give me a day off so I could shut the hell up.

Through this dark forest, I walked and walked in complete silence. It was incredibly peaceful and relaxing. It was astonishing how tranquil the atmosphere was without the cracking, growling, screeching or moaning coming from every direction. The wind and the leaves were the only things intruding my hearing.

Nature sure is amazing in the way it can make someone feel. Just moments ago I was giving myself a bothersome time and now, all I feel is the harmony of silence. I can definitely say that if I wasn't outside miles away from home, I could easily fall asleep without worries being able to creep into my brain and instincts.

My eyes wandered from tree to tree, from one side of the plane to the other, from the sky to the ground, and from my hands to my surroundings. Everything looks exquisite with the timid moonlight falling over everything. The dim white lighting kept the environment from becoming unsettling and terrifying. How I wish for every night to be just like this one. Is it so much to ask to have this wish of mine granted? Seriously, is there even a necessity for monsters to appear every night as if they have a schedule to follow through?

I gave a defeated sigh since I know this will probably be the only peaceful night I'll have for months. After all, this world isn't so kind or forgiving in the area of survival.

I didn't really pay attention as to how much distance I had traveled, but by the looks of it, since I didn't see my village anywhere within my sight, I still had a good bit to go. I looked up at the sky to see the bright white circle just hanging directly above me. It was midnight and I wasn't close to home. I knew that this would've happened if I chose to keep working myself. At least it was nice that I didn't have to engage anything. If I did, I can guarantee that I would've been drained of my stamina considering how tired I feel already from everything else I've accomplished today.

About thirty minutes later, I had already gone through the forest and was going down a small hill. In the distance of the land, I was able to see my village which was surrounded by a towering wall of stone lit up by torches. Finally, my destination was within my grasp. My happiness and relief gave me a light boost of energy to keep me moving.

My eyes scanned the entire plane of land in front of me in search of any threats but just like the past hour, there was nothing that could worry me. It was truly fascinating and confusing at the same time. Why _is_ it so calm tonight of all nights? If my memory serves me right, this has to be the only placid night that I can remember. I cannot recall any other night that has shown the harmony of solitude like the way it is right now.

I looked at my digital watch and it was barely over one in the morning. The night was still young so for all I know, those shitty monsters will begin to show up right as it is time for me to sleep.

" ** _Aaaaaaiiiiiihhhhhh_**!" All of the sudden the silence is terminated by a sharp feminine squeal that echoed throughout the terrain. What in the living hell was that? The scream was so sharp and full of fear and despair. It killed the calamity of my brain. Instinctually, I stopped walking and pulled out my sword. In an instant, a shit ton of questions clouded my mind. _Who the hell is screaming? Is that a girl? Why the hell could she be screaming about? Where in the hell is she? What the fuck?_

After that squeal, the only things that I was able to hear was my own slow breathing, my quickened heartbeat, and a rising ringing noise in my ears. I stood still, waiting for something to happen. Was she going to scream again? Or am I going to go to my village and act as if I didn't hear anything? Seriously though, what in the fuck could she be screaming about? There aren't any monsters anywhere.

I stood fixed on the ground for who knows how fucking long, waiting for anything to happen. Did I just hallucinate? Am I so damned tired that I just heard an imaginary scream? I turned my head from left to right, back and forth with my senses all rioting at their max. Nothing was happening, nothing at all. What the hell?

" _ **AAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEHHHHHH**_!" There it was again, the same girl. That freakish squeal came from my right, all the way from what seemed to be the small entrance of a cave that I had found months ago.


	3. Meeting

**Victor's P.O.V**

 _What was I going to do?_

I was standing still, completely motionless apart from my diaphragm which expanded my chest outwards before flattening it again from my concentrated breathing. I was contemplating whether or not I should get myself involved with whoever was in the distraught that shrieked the environment. In my current situation, I was exhausted both mentally and physically, carrying supplies, had only one true offensive weapon, and was standing in the middle of an open field in the middle of the night. My chances of acting cheesily heroic weren't good. If I wanted to do something, at the very minimum, I'd have to dispose of my materials and ax either inside of the walls of my town or just discard them here as their weight would be detrimental on my combat abilities. Of course, both would be unfortunate in the future. I'd either risk losing my day's adventure of supplies or I'd just throw away another person's human being.

 _Now, why am I even considering this person's life?_ Fuck if I know. I guess some sense of humanity is still within me after all of these years. Still, I don't think my humanitarian side is strong enough to push me out to save someone who, for all I know, could be hazardous to my survival. God dammit, why did this have to happen when I was at peace?

I looked towards the direction of the open and darkened entrance of the death-insisting cave, sighing in frustration. I've already spent a minute worth of time thinking. If I'm going to go after this person, I'm going to have to get moving within the next thirty seconds. _Yes or no? What would be more worth to me? A day of sweat and cruel work or someone I don't know_? _Ah for fuck's sake... God... Whatever you're doing up there... Making it worthwhile for me, please? Don't let me walk back into my damn home empty-handed._ Along with a vast amount of hesitation, I dropped my ax and my backpack that contained a desirable amount of wood and other supplies, mitigating the weight on my body allowing sharper and faster movement.

With my sword in my hand, I began to sprint over to the entrance as fast as my stamina and endurance would permit. The need for oxygen in my body began to grow as my breathing and circulation increased faster and faster until my lungs were pumping as fast as I placed my feet down one after the other. I closed the distance in a fairly short amount of time. Hopefully, it was fast enough for good.

I must've been so focused on my movement that I didn't realize an important mixture of sounds that was piercing one of my five senses. _There they were_ , the sounds that for a whole hour were nowhere to be found. One by one, I recognized the calls of the demons that crawled through the land when darkness swept through the world. Step by step these sounds grew louder and louder, collecting more and more of my thoughts and concentration. How amusing... Out of all of the time that I had, **_now_** they want to present themselves. Just great...

 _God... When I asked you to make this worthwhile for me... This isn't what I fucking meant!_

The sounds only continued arising from the entrance. The entrance was probably playing the door for these creatures. I can guarantee that the second I get to go inside it, a clusterfuck of a situation will present itself.

The entrance was fixed inside of a small hill, open as if it was a mouth into the underground. I managed to get myself right in front of it, so now, I had to go into it with nothing but a sword. I didn't even let myself think about anything, I just went straight in. At the very least, this cave was lit up by torches which were already planted on the ground and walls, illuminating the path that I found familiar. The luminous orange tinted lights orbed onto the grey dull stone. The low but crackling sound of the everlasting flames rang back and forth between the walls, an empty sound which collided with the egregious echoes of the monsters within.

I ran carefully so that I could minimize the chance of me granting myself an injury before the worst of the situation began, but fast enough so that I could get to whoever it was fast enough. I looked around searching for a person. Before I knew it, there they were, the damned creatures of the dark. The first to demonstrate itself was a walking, rotten human body. Its green, flushed skin along with its open, rotten, purple and dead blood oozing out of its orifices did nothing but create disgust in my mind.

Alerted by my loud movement, it turned around and faced me. Its contorted face was within my view. The zombie's strange and unwelcoming look was assisted eerily by the weak lighting of the torches around it. Had I not been used to its horrid features, I would've suffered from countless nightmares.

Using my speed and momentum, I dashed forward so it could be within my reach. Afterwards, without a single bit of restraint, I raised my sharp and double-edged iron sword and pulled it down swiftly, slicing the zombie's head open before I pulled my sword away from the open and rotten laceration. The putrid body then just fell down onto the ground, showing no signs of movement. Just like that, I kept moving a little further down the cave before I met another zombie just like it. This time I just swung my sword sideways and slit the zombie's head off, liberating the skull of the rest of the body. The body just like the previous simply folded and fell to the ground.

Zombies were the easiest to deal with out of all of the monsters that I've come to deal with. Their predictable movements and weak structure make them light-work compared to its brotherly creatures. Just swing at their head with whatever you have and as long as you're strong and accurate, they should be done with. The only weapon you can't use is your bare hands, not unless you know how to deal perfect blows and if you're okay with punching a body as stiff as a sandbag over and over again until your knuckles are close to popping out of your skin. I had to rely on my legs and objects around me back when I didn't have a sword.

The next one to show was a skeleton of a human body which clenched onto a bow. I remember the first time I saw these fuckers. I had to deal with a damn arrow on my right shoulder for a whole night until I could finally regenerate and clear myself of the injury. You'd think that they would be easy to deal with considering they're just bones stuck together, but for some reason, those bones are as hard as stone in terms of stiffness. Not only that but they, for whatever fucking reason, posses an infinite supply of arrows along with a level of marksmanship that is just simply too good for it to be fair. These damn bastards can hit you from a pretty good distance once they have their eye on you. They don't have eyes but have no problem impaling a sharpened arrow right through you once they favor your attention. Fuckin' bullshit.

Luckily, thanks to my extended amounts of experience, I learned that a good and solid symmetrical hit to their spine or ribs is good enough to rupture their structure and hold. Still, getting yourself close enough to attack is the challenge of their kind, especially when you get yourself in a situation where you have to deal with more than one of them at once. Dodging projectiles isn't as easy as one could fantasize.

The empty creature began shooting at me, but of course, although he had good skills, he had no chance against me by itself. Every arrow that came in my direction I was capable of dodging cleanly. One arrow passed by above my head after I ducked slightly, another one passed right above my left arm once I had tilted my body sideways to the right, a third arrow missed my left leg due to me stepping over to the right, and one last arrow barely missed me by the torso had I not deflected it with my sword. Once I was close enough, I delivered a strong roundhouse kick which pretty much destroyed the framework of all of the bones, forcing them to fly straight onto the cave's walls before breaking into smaller pieces. Afterward, the creature's bow dispersed into light dust along with all of the arrows that had been shot, denying me the chance to scavenge the bow the creature used. Again, fuckin' bullshit.

I didn't want to admit it to myself but my energy was beginning to deplete. I know that I hadn't even done much yet but I was already exhausted. My muscles began to ache and my breathing was beginning to break up. It won't be long until the exertion starts forcing me to give into the ground. Still, this person wasn't within my sight yet so I had to keep trying for a little longer before I choose to turn around and go to sleep.

I kept running for a little longer before I came across another two zombies. Very quickly I defeated them, using the least amount of movements possible to preserve my little amounts of stamina. At this point I was a level into this cave and the deeper I went, the more I had to fight. Before I knew it another zombie along with a skeleton archer showed up. I hastily lined myself up in front of the zombie so that the skeleton would shoot right into the zombie. My quick plan was successful as the archer shot one straight through the zombie's head right before I charged at it and punched it straight in the lower spine.

I ran for what was fifteen more seconds before I came across a steep lowering of the ground. The light cliff-like ground peered over a small drop which led right into an open room of stone and torches, very much like a small arena. I quickly looked down in search of someone. At first, I wasn't able to recognize anything other than monsters due to the low lighting. My vision transfixed itself from one zombie, skeleton, or giant spider to the next. The beings seemed to be gathered lightly as a group, all of them coming towards my direction. I kept scanning the area quickly but I couldn't lay my eyes on anything other than demonic beings.

I studied each one more carefully until I noticed something peculiar about their behavior. It should've been common sense to me that they were attempting to gather around something in my direction. I rapidly peered over the ledge to look over and under the cliff in which I was crouching from and it was then that I saw the one who I was looking for. I couldn't see very well but I was able to lay my eyes on a person, a female. She was laying on her back against a rock which was supporting her. She had a broken bow in her hand and had a trail of blood which led right past the group of monsters which were making their way to her. She had wounds on her left arm and even worse wounds on her right leg. It seemed that she must've gotten attacked a couple of times pretty bad.

Instinctually, I jumped right down in front of her and landed on both of my feet before I turned to look at her completely. I quickly assessed her condition in more detail. I noticed that she actually had a hole in her right leg and an actual bite mark on her arm. She was also bleeding from her nose and her left eye was purple. She wasn't in any condition to move on her own at all. She instantly looked at me with a great surprise showing on her tired and weakened face. I was able to hear her breathing very heavily and ruggedly, hinting pain and extreme exertion.

Yeah, she wasn't in condition to do shit.

I turned around and looked at the mob of monsters which were making their way over to us. There were too many to deal with. Fortunately, the pack was mostly of zombies and spiders with only a few skeletons within view. This meant that I didn't have to worry so much about dodging arrows. I turned back around and ran right to the girl. She looked up at me with eyes which were losing color. I could tell that she wanted to say something but her speech wasn't part of her functions at the very moment.

In a sudden motion, I placed my sword into the makeshift leather case on my back and picked her up by placing my arms behind her back and her knees, bridal style. The action and motion of her body gave her great pain as she began to squeal and moan. In her condition, I'm pretty sure anything would hurt. Instantly I was able to feel her blood pouring onto my clothes along with her quivering muscles. Her breathing grew even more rugged due to her newfound discomfort and her face was riddled with distaste. I couldn't do much now because of the way I had her.

I rapidly began making my way out of the open area by jumping/vaulting over the stone in front of me, all while dodging the arrows that only missed my body by centimeters. Every time her body shifted along with my motions the girl groaned in pain. I really couldn't do much about that, my priority was to get out of this forsaken cave.

Once I was at the top of the peering cliff, I began sprinting up towards the exit, following the torches which guided me to the opening of safety. Step by step she moaned and moaned, each time only making me want to get this over with sooner and sooner. I was only halfway out and I felt the blood from the girl's leg trailing down my forearm all the way to my elbow. Not only that but my stamina was at an all-time low. Fighting was one thing, running was another, but trying to carry another human being while running and avoiding monsters was in another league.

My legs were beginning to burn and ache in soreness along with my arms which were beginning to strain from the weight that was placed on top of them. My lungs felt heavy as if they were about to fall off of my windpipe and my throat was dry and sore from the harsh and constant roughed up breathing I kept doing. This wasn't easy for shit. The urge to just stop and rest was excruciating and demanding, the only thing keeping me from indulging said demand was the fact that I simply wasn't in a place where stopping would be forgiven.

I kept my vision forward, not paying one bit of attention to the female who had her eyes closed.

In front of me was a zombie which stared right at me. I just didn't have the fucks to give for it. With the best possible attempt I could've given, I simply ran right by it, barely missing its grasp when I swang myself away from it. I kept running and running by each zombie and spider that was in my way, each time having to do some form of dodging technique that only tired me more and more. It was infuriating that they just kept showing up within my sight, each one just standing there right in the direction I have to make my way to.

After another ten seconds of running, I was able to lay my eyes upon the exit. At that very moment, I was able to feel the adrenaline within me starting traveling through the veins in my body. I pushed harder and harder against the desire to give up. Of course, life wouldn't let things be that easy. Before I knew it, my vision connected with the stare of a skeleton that had his bow drawn right at me. With great difficulty, right as an arrow was shot, I was able to jump to the left, letting the arrow fly to my right. I kept eye contact with this motherfucker as he readied his next arrow. He shot and it was coming right to my head. Instantly, somehow, I ducked a little, sacrificing momentum but guaranteeing safety for my skull.

I got closer and closer to this archer who emptily readied his third arrow. I had managed to run close enough that I simply roundhouse kicked his bow out of his frozen hands. The next sound to be heard was the crackling of wood making harsh contact with the cold stone ground. I quickly took advantage of my chance to run away without worries as I bolted for the opening. I didn't even bother turning around to look at what was probably a hopeless and defenseless skeleton. All I heard was the tapping of its bones on the hard stone beneath it.

The next thing I heard was the sound of a string having been let go after stretching it. The deep twang that it makes due to its energy and length. I didn't even try to think once I heard it. I knew without hesitation what that sound was and what it meant.

 _Shit..._

A second later, all I felt was the exact same feeling I experienced when I had gotten impaled on my right shoulder, except that it was on my left leg. Before I knew it, I crashed on the ground with the human body in front of me rolling a meter away from me onto the grass right outside of the entrance of the cave. I felt the cold yet stinging feeling right down there, the burning sensation as if a hot knife is inside my body. I instantly brought my hand down to my leg to only feel a warm liquid coat it was I got to the affected area. The only thing that kept me from screaming was the idea that if I did, I'll end up granting myself a deathwish.

 _ **It fucking hurts... It really... Fucking hurts... God fucking dammit... Damn piece of shit...**_

I groaned lightly to myself, suppressing every instinct telling me to scream the damage done to me. I felt tears running down my face, the cold wet drops running down my eyes and down my cheeks. I opened and closed my eyes multiple times, attempting to stick to reality. I needed to regain my focus. I needed to keep moving or else I'll get killed by whatever shows up next.

I tried lifting myself with my hands which was fine, but the second I moved my leg I suffered from the recoil of the waving pain that manipulated me. It wasn't easy at all.

I looked in front of me towards the girl that was just laying there, probably dead for all I know. She might've died while I was trying to get out.

Behind me, I was able to hear a slow yet consistent tapping that neared me by the second. If I didn't get up now, I'll get another arrow to my body, something which I can't afford anymore.

Conveniently, somehow, as if my body was listening to my mental demands, I felt the pain in my leg grow weaker and weaker ever so slightly. The disappearance of the pain sure made it easy for me to get up onto my knees and then brokenly onto both of my feet. Once I was standing straight, I looked down towards my left leg to only see a red aura of light enveloping it. The shiny red light followed around and through the bloody arrow which had trespassed my skin and muscles. It grew brighter and brighter by the second, transforming my leg into a miniature beacon of light. A warm feeling accompanied the light on my leg, making the injury more and more tolerable. The arrow in my leg was disappearing as if its matter was being broken apart. Before I knew it, there was only a hole in my leg, an arrow no longer in view.

 _Heh... Of course... There's always that..._

I turned behind me to see the skeleton coming into view, making it clear that I had to go. I then turned and faced the girl which was still motionless, almost passing as being dead had her breathing not been noticeable. I walked to her and picked her up once again, feeling the dull pain in my leg slowly haunt me again. It felt bad still, but it was easier to deal with. Afterwards, I began to jog towards the tall and ominous walls which signified the location of my town. It was so close yet so far away, the distance only growing bigger and bigger as the pain exploited my desire to rest.

My leg was still shining, grabbing the attention of all of the mobs that were late on their appearances back when the night had begun. Each zombie, skeleton, and spider turned towards the one and only conscious and moving human being, a human being which had a glistening light on himself, rendering his chances of stealth all the way down to zero percent. There was a growl to my left, a twang from my right, a hissing and tappy noise from behind me, and much more coming from my sight.

It was great and all to no longer suffer from my wound on my left leg, but my weakened endurance and stamina were still into play in my body. My chest was aching for relief and rest and my legs were scorching from the physical demands I was asking from it. It is nothing but a surprise to me that I haven't passed out or collapsed. Thankfully, the years of survival I've had has built my body to withstand more than the average person, I think.

My breathing was ringing my ears and my heart was playing the beat of survival within my chest, thumping so quickly and strongly. Slowly, my mind began to fuzz out of focus, mostly because I had blood pouring out of my leg and was still running; all just because of a warm light which deceived my body of the injury. I wasn't far from the iron and wooden gates which sealed the village, but I wasn't close enough that I could guarantee my safety. The monsters were still howling; they weren't going to disappear anytime soon as the moon was still bright in the open sky. The sun wasn't peaking out of the horizon either, only terminating my wishes for all of this nonsense to end.

I was almost there; the shiny and clean iron frame of the door shined into my eyes due to the bright moonlight that caressed the world. Step by step I was able to see my small and distorted reflection from the metals, getting bigger and even more distorted the more I neared it. Before I could even process anything, my hand was already on the handle and with the last bit of strength, I pushed the massive gate open and rushed inside before I closed it behind me. A loud clunk of the reinforced door was heard through the empty town, along with an iron bar that fell into place, fortifying the door shut from any possible creatures that may attempt to open it from the outside.

The noises from the outside began to stifle out, softening and lowering in volume, mostly because their only prey was now out their sight and was protected by the light of all of the torches.

I fell on my knees on top of the bright green and luscious grass, their intense color signifying the peak of their health. I was too weak now. I was finally out of energy, my body ran out of gas. As soft as I could, I placed the girl on my arms down to the grass, so lightly as if she was a newborn. She was still injured, just like me. I couldn't tell if I had done anything useful or good. She was still breathing which was okay, but fuck knows how long it'll be that way. Hopefully, she'll be better by the morning, that way all of my time and energy doesn't become a waste.

I stared at her for what was a whole ten seconds. She was pretty, kind of. It was hard to make a verdict when she had blood and a bruise on her face.

She had bright and purely white hair which was spread throughout the grass, rough and rugged from what was probably continuous combat and sweat. Her eyes seemed soft and calm, shut completely, unconscious. Her skin seemed soft and clean had there not been dry blood all over her. She was wearing a white t-shirt that was ripped from the stomach down and had on white denim shorts. She seemed to have sacrificed protection for comfort, or whatever reason that would explain her revealing choice of clothing.

Her body was toned and in shape, curves everywhere that a girl would have. She seemed to be somewhere around my age as she didn't look completely mature or young. Objectively, she was beautiful. Everything about her physical looks was appealing and attractive. It was almost unreal, her beauty. It was amazing, in a way. It was surreal that someone like her could exist. I hadn't met anyone in years and then, all of the sudden, I come across someone who looks to be what could be the peak of a woman's build. Not only that but now, she was... In my care?

 _What have I accomplished now?_

My body was swaying lightly back and forth, my arms and hands were shaking from the weakness and fading adrenaline. My eyesight was becoming blurred and hard to keep and my hearing was becoming deafened by a growing ringing noise. I was also beginning to feel extremely weak, nauseous, and bothered.

Before I knew it, I slammed down into the grass, followed by instant grunt coming out of my throat. The light of the bright village pierced my eyeballs, straining them as this lighting grew stronger and stronger to them. My breathing slowed down along with my heart which thumped so peacefully and calmly. My eyelids slowly rolled down my eyesight, coating my eyes with a dark red curtain of skin.

 _What am I going to do next?..._

 _What's going to happen next?..._

 _Fuck if I know..._

 _I just want to sleep..._

 _To..._

 _Relax..._

 _Quietly..._


	4. Meeting: Part 2

**Victor's P.O.V**

 _What the fuck?... I feel like shit..._

My head was pounding heavily, torturing me with every beat that my heart made. I was capable of feeling the veins in my head enlarge and shrink every time my heart pushed blood through them. The aching was destroying my sense of concentration, forcing me to groan and shrivel my face with distaste. Apart from my head, my leg was also being engulfed by pain, a sore and dull pain as if I had gotten kicked with extreme force. The horrid feeling was brutal, nothing but brutal as it made me frown with displeasure even more than I already was.

I opened my eyes to reveal a yellowish-brown ceiling, signifying that I was inside a room. The room itself was lit from the window to my left; the sunlight from the outside was piercing the clear material into my room. The brightness of the streaks of light pierced my own eyes, forcing me to squint in return before I turned my gaze away from the hindrance. In my view was an empty area. The only thing occupying the open space was a small and short square table that was set right next to the bed.

 _This was my room..._

Very carefully I began to raise myself, attempting to bypass any use of my left leg. I pushed myself up from my bed and swang my two legs over and towards the edge of my bed before slowly lowering them down and letting them make contact with the cold and stern wooden floor. Now I was sitting at the edge of my bed, dealing with a little bit of sleep inertia as my body slowly began to wake up and function. Lazily, I rubbed my two eyes, trying to rub off the sleep which was attempting to drag down my eyelids. I then stretched my arms upwards, causing a crack in my back echo throughout the big and empty room.

I looked down towards my left leg, noticing a hole in my black pants exactly where the arrow had struck me. It was ripped and rough, the edge of the hole covered with a dark layer of red, showing the dried blood which had escaped my body. Through the hole, I was able to see the purple, bruised, and bloated skin of my leg, meaning that my leg had healed decently throughout the time in which I was unconscious. It was still hurting like hell but at the very minimum, there wasn't a gaping hole in it. I tried to place weight on my left leg to see its condition for use but right as I began to shift my weight onto it, I instantly groaned from the agony and discomfort before I set myself back on my bed. It still wasn't in a condition good enough for me to be able to walk, or even move.

I looked over to my left arm and into my black and red digital watch. It was 5:46 PM. I was out for almost a whole sixteen hours, surprisingly. The last time I had suffered a heavy injury that rendered me unconscious, I was out for almost twenty hours. I ended up waking up with a bad case of hunger and dehydration, a horrible condition in which I was nowhere near to at the moment.

Did I mention that I smelled like a musty piece of shit too? Every time I moved a body part, a foul stench crawled into my sinuses, coming close to burning my damn nose hairs. The smell of dried and rotten blood, sweat, and adrenaline was reeking throughout my clothing and bed. I really needed to change my clothes, my sheets, and take a shower. If I had to smell this stench for another sixty seconds, I'll end up breaking my nose. Of course, my only problem is: How the hell am I going to move out of this damn bed?

Giving it a second shot, I tried to stand up. Instantly, my leg was demanding for me to sit back down. I honestly wanted to scream with every nerve I had because of this pain I was going through. Even though I had an intense pain making its course all around my left leg, I didn't give in to my innate desire to sit back down. It was pretty difficult to go against my yearning instincts but damn I really needed to take a shower.

After an excruciatingly slow attempt to stand straight, I tried to take a step with my left leg to test if whether or not I could tolerate my weight on it. Unfortunately, just as I was expecting, I ended up limping and almost instantaneously putting my right foot forward so that I could take all of my weight and place it on my only sound and healthy leg. Wanting to try again, I then took another step with my left foot which only repeated the exact same action as before. It was agonizing but at the very least I was managing to simply pull through.

My limping continued all the way up until I reached my bedroom door. Using my bedroom wall as support, I placed my left hand on the wall next to my door and used my right hand to turn the knob and push the door forward. Afterwards, as fast as I could've gone, I moved forward so that it wouldn't shut away my exit. By the time the door swang back, I was already halfway through the doorway, therefore, to avoid it slamming into me, I pushed it forward again with my right arm and kept it at an arm's reach. Slowly and carefully, I then finished limping through the doorway and let my door swing right back into its perfect position in the wall.

Now my next set of actions was to limp to my right, go past the staircase that leads to the first floor and head all the way down the hallway and into my bathroom. The whole trial couldn't have been any slower, boring, and painful but in the end, I managed to make it inside my bathroom. As I was in my spacious bathroom, I turned to my left and opened a big wooden cabinet which held multiple sets of clothing which were all identical to the ones that I was already wearing along with a couple of towels.

Clumsily I stood on my right leg and picked out my whole outfit. I collected a black t-shirt, a black pair of pants, a pair of black socks, and a garment of underwear along with a clean folded towel. After that, I began to slowly and awkwardly undress and placed my foul odored clothing into an empty hamper located next to the cabinet. Finally, after all of my struggles, I managed to get into the bathtub and began to let the water run over my sweaty and musty body.

The rest is nothing but procedural. I washed my body as best I could, dried myself off, and then changed into a clean outfit. It was rather difficult to clean myself but at the very least I no longer smell like a walking dead piece of flesh.

After my body's clean up, I left the bathroom and went downstairs to my kitchen where I looked around to see if there was anything that I could make with as little movement possible. After surveying in my head all of the food items I had gathered the past three days, I made my choice to consume a good healthy meal of three apples and water, mostly because my leg was being too much of a bitch and I didn't feel like walking around back and forth trying to make anything else.

After picking out everything that I was going to eat, I made my way towards the dining table near the exit of my home and sat down. I then proceeded to consume my food and beverage items as I simply stared into space.

 _I currently have an injured leg which is still healing. If I manage to, I could go to sleep to speed up the process, but, I don't feel any bit of sleepiness and chances are I'll feel like utter shit if I sleep any longer than I already have. Not only that but my room still smells like absolute garbage since I have yet to clean and change my sheets and pillows. Man, this blows. At the very least I am done with all of my chores so I don't have to worry about having to get anything else done for a good while now._

 _Still, having an injured leg makes my life boring as shit. I could've been swimming in the lake right now. I was looking forward to a relaxing and cool morning but my leg wants to be a piece of shit. How much longer is this going to take anyway? There's no longer a hole in it, but the insides feel so dull and sensitive that it feels like I still have the hole inside there. Every time I try to exert my muscles down there it feels as if there is a blade consistently rocking in and out. Fuck everything._

Before I knew it, I had already swallowed my pitifully small breakfast because of all of my thinking. All that was on my clean, wooden table was a glass which was empty of any liquids. Since I was too lazy to return to my kitchen, I chose to leave my glass on the table and began to make my way out of the house.

After I opened the door, a cool and bright atmosphere greeted all of my senses. The cool temperature greeted my skin, the bright sunlight greeted my eyes, and the smell of fresh grass greeted my nose. Throughout my vision, I was able to see multiple wooden houses lined up next to each other down the smooth stone path that extended from my home. Each house had a nice, fresh, and healthy garden that extended enough so that each home was separated by a decent amount of distance. Bright colored flowers were capable of being spotted in some of the gardens, and, if you looked closely enough, you could spot an occasional insect flying from one flower to the other.

Along with pain I began to walk between the houses and made my way to my favorite place in the entire village. Without taking too long, I arrived at an open, circular field that was vast and open. It was so open that one would have to walk for about ten minutes to get from one side to the other. In the middle of the luscious green circle, there was a gigantic tree which dominated the terrain in height. It stood so tall that climbing only a fifth of the way can put you in danger of possibly breaking your bone structure apart if you were to fall.

The area was almost completely quiet since there wasn't anything anywhere to make any noise. The terrain's brightness was beginning to darken as the sun was beginning to set, readying the world for darkness.

Once I was close enough to the trunk of the tree, I laid down on my back and turned my head so that I was able to look at the huge collection of leaves and branches above me. My leg was still bothering me but at this point, I'll just tough it out. Chances are, in a couple of days, I should be fine again to do whatever it is that I may want to do.

The silence was very relaxing and refreshing, and even though I had just woken up from sleep, I was able to stay completely relaxed as if I was tired again. Slowly I began to close my eyes and began to drift into my mind which was empty and clear of everything. Before I knew it, every bit of sound was gone from my surroundings. The only thing I was able to hear was my breathing and my calm heartbeat. It was amazing.

"Thank you." A soft voice spoke from behind me.

 _Hm? The hell?_

The moment I heard the voice I opened my eyes and turned my head, facing a female who was standing, looking straight into my eyes with her grey irises. She had her hands cupped together, in front of her torso, twiddling her fingers as if she is conflicted. Although her body language showed signs of nervousness, her facial expression was mostly, _expressionless_. I couldn't read her face for anything and her voice sounded as if it was empty. Her white hair was all the way down and her body was as clean and healthy looking as it could've possibly been.

Her flawless beauty instantly struck me with familiarity. She was the person who I had _saved_. How the hell did I forget her already?

She was awake and perfectly fine. There was no sign of pain or wounds anywhere on her unlike my body.

For some reason, I had become incredibly tense. For whatever reason, her simple presence put me on the edge a little.

"For what?" My rough voice sounded the question, possibly giving a tone as if I was bothered. It was a redundant question as I already knew what her gratitude was for, but I needed something to work off of her for conversation.

"For saving me. You got me out of a tough situation. I just wanted to thank you for what you've done for me." Her voice still sounded empty as if she was saying the line out of obligation.

"Oh, yeah. Your welcome, I guess." Right after I turned my head back to the position it was on and resumed to close my eyes.

I don't know how much time had passed, but for a good while my surroundings were completely silent, so silent that I would periodically open my eyes so lightly and proceeded to turn my head to check if the girl was still standing there, only to find out multiple times that she was still simply standing there, looking around as if she wanted me to say something.

"Something wrong?" I asked after the fifth time I checked to see if she was still around me.

"Not really."

"Then why are you just standing there? It's kind of uncomfortable for you to be right here with me."

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I don't really have anything to do."

"Isn't there something that grabs your attention or anything that can occupy you? There's a good number of things to do here in this village."

"You're the only thing that grabs my attention." Her reply caught me somewhat off guard that I almost choked on my own spit. Had her voice not been empty, I would've taken it for something else already.

"I grab your attention? That's cute. How so?"

"Your body." _What_?

"What about my body?"

"Possible wounds. I remember seeing bad wounds on your body when I woke up over by the grass at the entrance of this village. You had a hole in your leg. I remember it clearly when I carried you to your house." _Heh, so that's how I ended up on my bed_.

"Oh, yeah. I'm mostly okay. It is still sore and the pain is incredibly dull whenever I try to walk but I can deal with it. It'll be fine within a couple of days."

"Can I see it?"

"What?"

"Can I see your leg? So I can see your wound."

"Uhh..." I was hesitant to say yes to that question, mostly because I was wearing joggers and in order for her to see my injured leg, I would have to take them off, and, the thing is, I don't think I am comfortable doing this type of thing with this random girl. "No, it's okay. There's no need for me to do that."

"Why not?"

"Don't feel comfortable doing so."

"All you have to do is take off your pants. There's nothing difficult about that."

"Maybe in the physical aspect of it, yes, it isn't too difficult. But considering the fact that I don't know you, I don't feel comfortable."

"Just take your pants off and let me see your wound." _You're being really persistent, you know that?_

"Is it really that necessary?"

"Yes. I want to do something for you to make up for what you did for me."

"What exactly are you going to do?"

"Touch it."

"And what is that going to accomplish?"

"Something that'll help you." _Your vague wording isn't proving anything, neither is it explaining anything_.

"Will it hurt?"

"Unlikely."

"Will it feel good?"

"Only if you let me go all the way."

"What does that mean?"

"It'll be exactly as I'm saying if you let me see your leg."

"Can you be more specific?"

"No."

"Why not?" Right after I asked, the girl ended up walking in front of me and then lowered herself on my right leg, straddling me from my right leg and then proceeded to lower herself so close to my face that she was only an inch or so away from mines, the closeness only feeling stronger as her shining eyes were staring into mine. Her clean and clear face was completely observable from my eyes. Her closeness allowed her breathing to actually land and disperse on my own skin. Her warm breath slowly warmed up my own face. Her whole body was so close that I was easily able to experience her warmth flowing on my own. If she was any closer, we could've been kissing.

As if her positioning wasn't already enough, she replied: "I want to help you as thanks for helping me."

"Is there a reason for you to be this close?"

"No, not this close as I am right now. But I do need to be near you." The girl then used her hands to lightly push the rest of her upper body away from mine. Through my thin t-shirt, I was able to feel her tender and somewhat small hands place themselves and apply pressure for her action. I was honestly becoming confused as to whether this girl was trying to seduce me since it was kind of hard to tell when her facial expression is unreadable and her voice is almost in a complete monotone.

"Fine, you can take a look, even though I have no damn clue as to why you want to." As best as I could've, I sat up and began to remove my pants while the girl was simply in front of me, still straddling my right leg. Of course, her being on top of me still wasn't really useful in terms of practicality.

As if she read my mind, she lifted herself away from my right leg and kneeled right next to me, still watching me. I was tense for sure as I really didn't know how it quickly came to this tiny event, but nevertheless, I continued, only telling myself to get it over with. Once I was able to get my left leg free, I extended it and straightened it to the best of my abilities, showcasing the great purple bruise that was located on my lower leg, covering a good portion of it. My leg was pretty swollen and looked to be in a bad condition.

For a minute, the girl in front of me simply stared at the injury as I simply stared at her full of confusion. _I unclothed my leg as she requested and after everything she just said, she's just going to stare at it_? Her eyes seemed a little sharp as if she was attempting to examine the incredibly obvious problem that I contained. Little by little, she moved her head a little higher or horizontally, as if she was trying to view as much of the leg as possible from her location. After she was done, she then looked at me straight into my eyes.

"Can I touch it?" Her question could not have been any more predictable.

"Sure. Just, be careful. It hurts like shit if you put too much pressure."

As I gave her the confirmation that she could proceed with her request, I watched her carefully, trying to pinpoint her reasoning for her action. At first, she simply had one of her fingers slightly poke my skin with caution. Then, she moved onto sliding her one finger down and around my leg, as if she was trailing it, trying to gauge the overall bruise. Then, she began to use the rest of her palm. Her hands were incredibly delicate and tender. My skin was absolutely confused as to whether cry of impending pain or if to enjoy the joyful and light touch she was giving.

As she did what she was doing, I was holding my breath and simply waited for her to finish or for something to happen. The fact that she was taking her sweet time only made me tenser since she kept touching me more and more.

"Does it hurt you when I touch you like this?" Her empty voice rang my ears out of tension, clearing my head and letting me breath at ease again.

"No, not really. For the most part, it's nothing to even describe."

"You're tense. I can feel your leg flex a little every time I drag my hand. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't hurting you."

"Oh, okay. Just, please hurry up with whatever it is that you're doing."

"Sure." Her hand immediately left my leg, so now, she was simply staring at it again. "Well, your leg seems to have healed pretty well over the time that you were asleep, although, it's obvious that it's not in any condition for perfect use." Once again, her hand then resumed its previous action of trailing up and down my leg, but this time it was a little different.

Little by little my leg began to feel... _warm_. It was... _tingly_. It felt... _Nice_. It was a cozy and comforting sensation. I couldn't really describe it. The best that I could say was that it was... _relaxing_. As the feeling grew stronger, I noticed that on my leg, a green light began to grow brighter. The light was not only growing more noticeable on the bruise on my leg, but it was stemming from the hands of the girl in front of me. Her gaze was growing serious as if she was paying ultimate focus to what was happening in front of her.

In short, this girl was healing my leg.

"Hmm... So you can heal people?" The question was basic but it was a good enough to start the new conversation.

"Yes, I can, although, it isn't too effective. It takes me a while to heal even small wounds depending on how much energy I have." Her expression was still stern and displaying focus, almost as if she was going to dismiss my question.

"Energy? Are you talking about some form of _magical_ energy?" In this world, a lot of things don't make too much sense when you try to piece occurrences together. Because of that fact, things such as skeleton's weaponry suddenly despawning when they are eliminated, the world bringing monsters at night, and the way my leg naturally began numbing and healing itself rather quickly for the injury it sustained are all not worth paying too much mind for.

The fact that I am witnessing the power of this girl is not too surprising to me.

"No, I'm simply referring to my physical energy and mental state. The more tired or emotional I am, the less effective my healing becomes."

"Really? So you're capable of using this power indefinitely, under proper conditions?"

"Well, technically I could, but just like you, I need food, water, and sleep in order to function well. If my body lacks any of those needs, I'll end up struggling to keep my power going. Not only that but I need to remain as calm and focused as possible. If I am in disarray, I won't be able to do anything at all."

"Interesting..." As I said that, I paid one last bit of attention to my leg before I chose to lay all the way down on my back to regain a sense of comfort by looking at the leaves above.

 _My leg has healed pretty well ever since she started her little process, but I can tell that she wasn't kidding when she said that this takes her a while. Right now, the delay between her telling me that I'm good to go from the point she started is considerably long. If this was to happen in the middle of combat, it would be completely ineffective. The light it shows in the dark, the length it takes for the full effect to arise, the conditions needed for the power to work properly, and the vulnerability it puts on the participants are all nothing but signatures for a death wish._

 _If that power didn't need so many prerequisites and had a stronger effect, it would be incredibly powerful. To be able to pull away from a battle for approximately five to ten seconds to completely restore one's self would be nothing short of divine. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case._

 _The more complicated topic is that there is probably more to her power than from what she has chosen to tell me. In the end, the idea and place of magic in a world is incredibly intricate if one would think about it._

 _The fact that I've met someone now with this type of power is intriguing. I have so many questions_.

After several minutes of thinking, I began my questioning.

"Can you strengthen that power?"

"For the most part, I think I can, but I don't really know any effective process to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"I've had this power for the longest time and my power has changed somewhat from when I was younger. It seems that having a strong and athletic body seems to help the strength of my power, but apart from that, I don't know if anything else can enhance it."

 _"_ Have you tried anything else?"

"I have tried a form of _stamina_ training to enhance it. I would simply try to sustain my power for a longer duration of time but every single time I did so, I would always end up stopping at a similar point in time as any other attempt. I couldn't extend the duration of use no matter how many times I tried. Later on, I tried to meditate so that I could enhance my ability to focus but that idea didn't help much either. In conclusion, strengthening my body was the only thing that was somewhat effective."

After her explanation, I felt the warmth on my leg slowly disperse and disappear, signaling me that whatever was affecting it was going away. I sat back up to see that my leg was no longer bloated, purple, or aching but was instead clean, stable, and in perfect condition. My leg was completely healed. There was no sign of injury.

To test my leg, I leaned forward and began to push down on the muscle heavily to only find out that it didn't ache horrendously as it would've before. Afterwards, I extended and retracted my legs into the air slightly only to find out that exerting the muscle wasn't causing pain either. It really was healed.

"Damn. The injury is completely gone." Since there was no reason for me to have my leg exposed anymore, I began to put my joggers back on fully while the girl was simply staring at me. It was kind of tense for me, but I figured that I should just get used to it.

"Yeah, although it took me a while for me to heal you completely. Sorry if the wait troubled you." She apologized even though she did something useful for me.

"This isn't something to apologize for. The fact that you healed me through the wait makes up for the delay." I began to stand up to get a feel for my leg again. Just as I thought, it didn't hurt at all.

"It seems that you're in perfect condition now."

"Of course. Anyways, about your power, is there any way for you to change the way it works?"

My question seemed to have been a difficult one since the girl ended up giving me a confused look. Maybe I should've worded it differently.

"What do you mean?"

"Can you change the way it can heal someone? As in, instead of having to be next to the person in need, is there a way to make it ranged so that you can heal the person from afar?"

"I don't think I've ever really succeeded in changing the way it works. I think that I'd have to increase its effectiveness to be able to do such a thing first, right? I mean, if I can't increase its strength when I am next to the person, then how would I be able to maintain its strength over distance?"

 _She's right. If she can't enhance it, then how could she change it? It was a stupid question to ask now that I think about it._

"So physique is really the only factor for you then?" Instinctually, I began to stare at the girl in front of me who kept her attention on the guy who asked the semi-rhetorical question.

In terms of physique, she really was at a peak. Her face didn't have any excess fat, neither did she have any form of acne. Her face was clean and symmetrical, giving her face an alluring picture of beauty. Her white hair seemed incredibly clean, smooth, and silky, especially as it shined in response to the light that bounced from it. Whenever her head turned, her hair would move and flow mythically.

Her eyes, due to them being almost completely grey, shined with alluring emptiness and mystery. Her teeth, whenever she talked, would shine due to their consistent whiteness.

The rest of her body only complemented the grace that her face displayed. Her arms were slender and hairless and yet they showed signs of having toned muscle. Her hands were soft and tender in touch while her nails were cut evenly and cleanly. Her torso contained the ever so powerful hourglass figure. Her white shirt showed the shape and roundness of her breasts which were proportionate to the size of her body. Her breasts weren't big, but neither were they small. Due to her shirt having had also been tattered from the bottom, it seemed as if it was a makeshift crop top which showed her curves and flat yet strengthened abdomen. There was no excess fat anywhere but instead only toned muscle.

Her legs were no different in condition as the rest of herself. They were toned as one could see the muscle which lightly shaped the bottom half of her bodily hourglass. The fact that she was wearing short denim shorts only accentuated her curves and lower half even further.

Her physicality screamed beauty and sexiness in one. If I had met her next to some form of clean, spring lake as she wore an asymmetrical, white bodycon midi dress, I wouldn't blame myself if I came to believe that she was a goddess.

"Yes, I believe so." She responded to my question which then resulted in the end of my visual examination. I looked over at her face to only notice that she was slightly blushing. The redness of her face was almost unnoticeable but I still managed to notice it because of the faint yellow sunlight which was covering the landscape.

 _Shit. I may have stared for too long_.

As best I could've, I put on a poker face and tried to remain neutral in expression so that the newfound awkwardness doesn't grow. It was quite embarrassing to have to realize such a thing.

"Well, I'm out of questions for now." I didn't have anything to ask or say anymore so I began to walk back to my house. As I began to walk, I began to hear footsteps behind me, signifying that the girl behind me was following me.

 _This girl behaves like a drone_.

I looked down at my watch to notice that it was 6:37 PM. The sky above me was beginning to darken as the sun slowly began to hide behind the horizon. Due to the size of the walls around my village, however, a big shadow began to cast over the village from one direction, limiting the natural light that the land would've naturally received. Instead, the mass number of torches around the land began to fully run their purpose, shining the yards of houses, the smooth stone walkways, and the open areas around the location.

The walls were tall, taller than from what I originally wanted. They towered over the village, guaranteeing complete protection from the dangers of the outside. Although they grant great protection, they took me a hell of a lot of time to make even though structures in this world aren't difficult to make. It took me about a month to finish those damn things. I'm just glad that they were worth it.

 _Well, now that my leg has been healed, I think I'm going to go over to the lake. There's nothing else to do after all_.

Towards the south end of my village, there is a natural, indefinitely clean lake. Because of the fact that it never got dirty and because it was close to the houses and the gigantic tree, I chose to surround the lake with the gigantic walls too for personal enjoyment. Whenever I wanted to release some stress, I would simply relax and swim around the lake, appreciating the cool and fresh water.

After everything I've described in my village, I'm sure many would assume that it's huge, and they wouldn't be wrong assuming that. I _did_ put a lot of time into this place after all.

"What are you going to do?" The soft voice behind me asked.

"I'm going to go take a swim in a lake south of my village."

"A lake?"

"Yes. A lake."

"Can I go with you?" _You're already following me and you live here, I don't think there's a reason for you to ask me for permission anymore_.

"Sure, but if you plan to actually swim, I suggest that you take a towel with you."

 _Technically, you also need a set of underwear, assuming that you're not going to swim naked anyways_.

"Where do I get a towel from?" _What?_

"From whatever house you live in."

"Oh, so I could live here?" _Wait, she hasn't picked out a place to sleep in yet?_

"Yeah, you can. I don't really care what you do as long as it doesn't cause me problems. Pick whichever house you want to live in. As for the towel, just follow me to my home. I'll give you one of my spare towels so we can save time."

"Oh, thank you. I appreciate the accommodation."

"I'm just surprised that you haven't picked a house yet. The hell did you do when you woke up? How long have you been conscious anyways?"

"Well, I've been conscious ever since the morning I think, and all I've done was heal you so that the hole in your leg would disappear, take you to your home, and wander outside of this village. I wasn't sure if you'd want me here by the time you woke up so I went around looking for a place to go, but I couldn't settle on anything since I don't even have a weapon. I just figured that I'd wait for you to wake up so I can ask you if I could use anything in the village, but I didn't take into consideration how long it would've taken you to wake up."

 _Hm, so she healed me back then too? That would make sense of how my leg was only bruised when I woke up. Usually, an injury of that scale would leave me fucked since my body can't naturally heal fast enough to compensate for the loss. The worst I've ever experienced in terms of injuries was a gaping slash on my right arm, but that injury was nowhere near as bad as having a hole._

After pondering a lot of random details, we reached the door to my home. I opened the door and entered the house which was illuminated by the orange lighting of the torches inside. The girl behind me followed closely, so close that she almost bumped into me as I slowed down to open the door. Afterwards, I began to make my way to the bathroom to pick up the towels and an extra pair of underwear for myself.

"I can't believe that you waited all that time just for my permission. I brought you here by my own choice you know. I don't understand as to why you would have to wait for my permission so strictly."

"I understand your point of view. However, I wasn't so sure of your motives. You may have saved me, but I wanted to know why first. I was so close to death that I felt that it may have been pointless to save me. I don't remember anything well, but I know that whatever you did put you in great danger because when I woke up, I noticed a gaping hole in your leg. To me, it didn't make sense that you'd simply _save_ me."

 _Hmm, this girl is either really smart or really cynical. I guess from her point of view, it really would be confusing if some guy just came to save her. We are in a world of survivalism after all_.

"You sound as if you were wary of me."

"That is because I was. Even if you put me in safety, it doesn't mean you're not a bad person. For all I know, you could've kept me as a prisoner or some sort of slave."

 _Oi, that is really dark. What type of expectations have you implanted in yourself? You aren't holding me up to those expectations either, are you?_

"That is one dark expectation." I didn't really know what to say to that. Her response hinted some form of personal experience to me and I didn't want to get myself wrapped in her personal matters.

I can tell that whatever this topic came to be was quite a personal one since the girl behind me stopped talking and rose silence instantly, either that, or she had nothing else to say to me. I simply made my way to the bathroom and picked up the towels, ignoring the fact the girl behind was extremely quiet to the point that it didn't feel natural, even though I had recently met her.

Once the towels were in my hand, I turned to the girl and handed her the towel that she might choose to put to use. She took it even though her gaze was pointed towards the floor. She really wasn't herself.

I simply walked past her and made my way back to the front door. Procedurally, I walked out with the girl behind still keeping close. I then turned to my right and walked straight down the stone path which guided us both to the pure lake. For the longest of time, I could only hear my footsteps along with hers. Even though I tried my best to remain stoic, the tension was beginning to wear me out and the silence was actually deafening me as if it was trying to tell me that I should say something. For the first time in years, I was not enjoying the bliss of silence.


	5. Infiltrators

**Victor's P.O.V**

 _This awkwardness is surreal. I can't even think about walking right now because of this tense feeling.  
_  
We walked for a little while as we made progress to our little destination. Every now and then I would turn around to check on her only to find out that she was staring at the floor. She wasn't making any noise apart from her footsteps and that very fact wasn't pleasing me in any way. After a while, I just couldn't handle it. I needed some form of noise between the two of us.

 _Where did you come from? What happened at the cave? Those are decent questions to ask, right? No, wait. They may force her to explain something complicated. If that's the case, what can I ask her instead? How was her morning? I can't ask her that, I don't care about that type of small talk. How about whether she likes the village? No, I don't care about that type of answer either.  
_  
"How long have you lived here?" Her voice knocked me out of my own train of social inadequacy. I guess it would only be natural for her to take the initiative, right?

"Pretty long."

"Are you the only one here?"

"Yeah, I am."

"How come?"

"No particular reason. There just hasn't been anyone here. If anything, empty is how this village has always been. You're the first occupant apart from me."

"The first occupant? That can't be. This village looks as if it was already housing a community."

"Well, I made this village all by myself and ever since, apart from you, I had never run into anyone. It's just the reality of everything."

"You made this village by yourself?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Time. Nothing but a lot of time."

Once again, the silence returned, although this time it was a lot more bearable for me. Not only that, but we had finally reached our destination. In front of us was a wide, open, crystal clear water lake. In a way, the term "lake" might not be the most fitting term for the water pocket as I had made the choice to remove all dirt around it and changed it for cobblestone instead. I also placed a good number of glowstone around it to light it up during the night and to make it a little more "fancy". As a result, the lake looks more like an open bath than an actual lake.

Regardless, I turned around to face the woman accompanying me. She seemed to have caught interest in the scenery as her eyes were darting everywhere behind me. I was able to see her pupils swiftly skimming over the lights all over the lake and the lake itself. In a way, her face looked like that of a child's. It was a little relieving to know that her little dark personal phase was over as I had no interest to spend time with someone with those types of feelings.

I unconsciously ended up looking at her directly into her eyes. After a moment of her visually analyzing her newfound surroundings, she laid her eyes on me and connected our gazes. Immediately afterward though, her gaze moved elsewhere apart from my eyes. She was clearly uncomfortable from having to look at me directly.

"You seem to have done a lot of work around here. Everything looks visually pleasing." As she said that, she walked past me and got closer to the lake. Following her movement with my eyes, I turned around and walked closer along with her. She stopped right before the ridgeline into the lake's water and then proceeded to crouch down and placed her hand in the water. She was testing the water.

"It's not... cold?" Her gaze met mine, this time with her face giving off a confused look.

"Yeah. Surprising, isn't it? Somehow it's never cold or too hot. Almost always perfect."

"Well, that's an interesting thing to hear. Any particular reason as to why this lake is like that?"

"No clue."

"Oh... Well, whatever the reason may be, it sure makes this lake nice and likable." She stood up and then faced me. Her face, this time, was showing some form of stiffness. As a man, I somehow instinctively knew what that face meant.

"You're going to become uncomfortable about undressing now? I'm sure that thought came to your head when you initially requested to come here, right?" I already knew that whatever her answer was going to be one of bashfulness. I expected it.

"Sorry. It actually didn't cross my mind that I'd have to do something like this in front of a man." Her face was beginning to get red. She was getting flustered, obviously. Well, she was having her little fit, so I guess I'll just let her be.

"I'll let you be here on your own. When you're done, look for me in my home so that I could have my turn. You don't have to worry about anything here bothering you since I've done this a million times already. If you need anything from me, don't be afraid to ask. That being said, have a nice bath." I sighed after giving my little statement and then proceeded to put down my towel and my underwear near the open bath before turning around and walking away.

 _I guess I'll have to wait. Eh, whatever. I have to go sort out some tools and weapons as it is. I might as well get started on those while I wait. I do need to go back to that cave area to retrieve my dropped supplies if they're still there.  
_  
"On second thought, I guess it was kind of absent-minded of me to not have realized this type of thing sooner. You don't have to leave. I don't want to inconvenience your leisure time." Her voice forced me to turn around. Her gaze was nowhere near close to meeting mine as her eyes were essentially looking at the darkening sky above. Her face was lighting up somewhat red and she was starting to tap her left foot on the floor. As a result of her body language, I couldn't help but sigh. It was clear that she was forcing herself even though she was uncomfortable with the suggestion.

"Don't force yourself. If you're not comfortable then I'd rather just leave. Like I said before, just look for me when you're done." I could tell she wanted to say something since I heard her softly mumble something, but at that point, I just wanted to move things forward. If she wasn't fully comfortable, I didn't want to force her or have her force herself. It would only make things uncomfortable for both of us.

As I expected, she didn't say anything to me as I walked away. Without any interruptions, I faced forward and kept walking, not letting my gaze wander just in case if she were watching me to make sure I wouldn't be peeping or whatever.

Before I knew it, I was back in my own home in the grand living room where the furnace, an anvil, and a workbench were located. As if it were second nature, I began messing around with some iron ore, smelted iron bars and made use of other little materials to begin making a set of tools. First, I made an iron sword as I needed a new weapon. Then, I worked on making a new iron ax since I'd need one in the long run since the one I had left behind might not be there anymore. Lastly, I made another iron pickaxe and placed that into storage.

Somehow those things didn't take long. Forging and smithing wasn't a complicated thing for me. Although, one can argue that the speed at which I work is rather unrealistic. Regardless, I continued working and refining the tools as a mean of passing time. As I was working on those tools, I ended up thinking about a bunch of things as usual.

 _So tomorrow, I'm going to have to go and try to find my supplies and my ax if possible. I also need to make a bookbag again now that I think about it. If my supplies are gone, then it means that I also have to return to the forest and chop up some trees again. It would also benefit me to find more fruit and animals to kill. I may have to separate those tasks though. It'd be way too much to deal with and carry all at once. In that case, if I go to sleep early today, I can wake up early tomorrow. I can spend my morning looking for the supplies. If I find them, then I'll simply return. If not, then I'll make wood my priority. Chances are, if I don't waste too much time, I can finish the wood gathering by the afternoon. After that, I could go on a little hunting spree and gather food materials as I said. That all being said, do I need anything else? I don't think there's anything that I am particularly lacking.  
_  
For a little while, I scratched my memory in an attempt to try to remember any problems that I may have had. I kept thinking and as time passed, my thoughts changed from one topic to another. Before I knew it, I was thinking about little meaningless things.

 _Why do monsters spawn at night? Isn't it surprising how many of them can show up? Why is the sky blue? Why does it turn orange when the sun is setting? If I sat on a voodoo doll of myself, would I ever be capable of getting up again? How small are the smallest things to exist? Why does my body naturally heal on its own as long as my injuries aren't instantaneously lethal? Why am I questioning these things?  
_  
Before I knew it, I had made the tools that I needed and found myself just sitting down in one of the chairs of the room. I was somewhat bored and I didn't have a clue as to how much time had passed since I had gotten home. As a result, I began organizing my materials back into storage. Little by little, I placed particular materials in specified chests and shelves. As I was doing so, I ended coming across some string. In an instant, a picture flashed in my head. It was a visual of the girl back when I had found her. I remembered clearly her injuries along with the monstrous noises that had surrounded the open area. I then remembered the fact that she was holding a broken bow in her hand.

Without any particular thoughts running in my head, I kept staring at the string. I then began looking for some wood, feathers, and some flint. Before I knew it, I ended up working on a bow, and a pretty strong one at that. I didn't really know why I was doing what I was doing, all I knew is that for some reason I felt inclined to make it. Time slowly passed and at the same time, a bow was shaping through my work along with arrows. By the time I was done, I had made a pretty sturdy and strong wooden bow along with around a stack of arrows. I could've made more arrows but I no longer had any wood to work with.

Since I was no longer able to work with wood, I then moved on to working with some leather. I ended up making multiple quivers for the arrows. I figured that it could come useful since I doubt that it would be practical to carry so many arrows by hand or in pockets. Lastly, I ended up making another backpack just in case if I were to need it for something. After all, my first one could be gone as I've said before.

At this point, I was drained mentally and was just laying back on a chair in the living room again. I placed the bow, arrows, and quivers on a little table near the exit, that way I wouldn't lose them or easily forget where I placed them. By habit, I ended up looking at my watch to find out that it was nearly 8:00 PM.

 _Damn, how long has that girl been bathing for? I could've sworn that I told her to notify me when she was done. Did she forget?  
_  
I kept staring at my watch, yawning as my mental exhaustion was slowly changing into actual physical exhaustion. I was starting to get sleepy and I wanted to go to bed, but of course, I wasn't planning to without taking a bath. After all, I was sweaty and slightly smelly from the smithing and crafting. I was somewhat drenched in sweat and the fact that the room was still hot from the furnace wasn't helping. With a little reluctance, I stood up and walked towards the exit. Right before I walked out, I ended up looking at the new bow for a little bit. I was contemplating whether I should give it to her now or tomorrow.

 _I should probably give it to her tomorrow. Chances are, she might be tired as I am. I doubt she'll need a replacement right of the bat since I already gave her permission to live here. But then again, she might prefer to be armed. This is essentially her first night and she might not that comfortable to live her on her own. She might not be used to it.  
_  
I looked at the bow for a couple of more seconds before I just snickered at myself. _Eh, I'll give it to her later_. Without restraint, I walked outside and sat down on the steps of the porch of my house. The cool night felt refreshing as the sweat on the exposed parts of my body was being cooled by the atmosphere. I looked up towards the sky and looked at the revealed night sky along with the bright stars that were shining down into the land. The only thing I was able to hear was my own breathing and the slight breezes that blew by every now and then.

As relaxing as it was to just sit on my porch, it was boring and I was in need of a bath. At first, I waited a couple of minutes, but then those couple of minutes became ten minutes. After a while, it became twenty minutes. Point is, I was waiting an extraordinary amount of time.

 _What the hell is this girl doing? It's almost 8:30 PM already. She should've been done by now. Did she drown or something? You know what? Fuck it. I've waited long enough. If she gets mad, then oh well.  
_  
I got up from my porch and made my way to the open lake bath. When I got there, I looked around slowly and carefully with hope in that I'd be able to spot some sort of trace from her. I looked around for a little bit but I was surprised to see that there was little to no trace in that she was there at all. The only signal of her past presence was a water trail that lasted somewhat around the ridgeline of the bath, a sign that showed of her having had gotten out while wet. Apart from that water trail, there was nothing. Not only that, but my own towel was gone along with my underwear. The fact that they were gone puzzled me even more since I doubt she'd have any use for them since she has her own clothing and had brung her own towel.

As if it was instinct, I looked around the area to see if maybe I was just blind or missing some sort of clue. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything that may have belonged to her or me. It was perplexing on some level, but in all honesty, I was tired and my inclination to care was almost nonexistent. Chances are, she may have just chosen to go home or something.

Without any hesitation, I began to lift up my shirt to take it off in preparation for my bath, but as soon as I grabbed the edge of it, I instantly sensed something. Without even thinking, I immediately let go of my shirt and turned around while dashing to my right. Right after my dash, an arrow flew towards the right of my torso. Considering its flight path, it was aimed directly for my heart as it had flown level with it. Without hesitation, I immediately began running and made my way behind several bushes around the bath. I then tried to collect my bearings as I tried to figure out the current situation.

 _An arrow came from behind me and directly from the path to get here. Not only that, but I wasn't able to spot anything within my vision when I had turned around. Whatever that was wasn't a skeleton as there is no way in hell that they can be so accurate, not from a distance that I can't even see them. Where the hell did that arrow even come from? There aren't any buildings on the path near here so it couldn't have been anything near here that was hiding.  
_  
As I was thinking, I dug into the ground near the bushes to find a clean and useable iron broadsword along with a smaller dagger. In the case of an emergency, I dug some weapons around certain landmarks in the village for quick armament. I always knew that this village was safe, but it never meant to me that I should be careless. This situation is a clear example of that.

 _There is only one other person that I can think of that can use a bow. Please, tell me that wherever that came from, it wasn't from her. Please, please tell me that it wasn't from her.  
_  
My options at the very moment were incredibly limited. My current position and location were open, too open. Whoever shot that arrow has the advantage over me right now. This area is easy to spot something moving in, and with their skill, they could easily land a shot on me if I remain stagnant where they could see me. Not only that, but my only cover are these bushes which, unfortunately, won't save me from an arrow from whoever had shot it. If I can't move forward, they'll have me pinned. Not only that, but I don't even know if it is only one person. For all I know, it could be a group.

Before I could consider more thoughts, I sensed another arrow flying towards me. As a result, I immediately jumped leftward to avoid the arrow. As I hoped, the arrow managed to miss me, this time lodging into the ground after having had created an open hole on the bush. At this point, it was clear that I couldn't stay still no matter where I was. I immediately got up and began running down the path into the main village in a diagonal line in hopes that it could somehow make it difficult for my attacker to hit me.

Every now and then, I would switch directions. Every now and then, I was also obligated to dash and jump in opposite directions because of the arrows that kept making their way to me. Luckily, it seemed that only one arrow came to me at a time, but the fact that they kept coming at me without too much of a delay between them was worrying. Right now, the only thing that kept me alive was chance. The attacker, after a while, was attempting to compensate for my dodging as an arrow would clearly fly by me instead of hitting me, signaling the fact that he or she was hoping for me to somehow run into it. Somehow my dodging became a psychological game. Before I knew it, I found myself conflicted when I should dash versus when I should stay on the same path.

The good thing, however, was the fact that I was nearing the village, meaning that my ability to move while in cover was about to benefit, but unfortunately, my little plan was going to be put to a little delay. Right as I had laid my eyes on one of the buildings, I sensed multiple arrows coming at me at once. They came aimed directly at me, to my left, and my right. This meant that dodging them was a lot trickier. Not only that, but they were coming at me at the same time, meaning that they were fired together at the same time.

 _Heh, so there are more than one of you. Well isn't this so fucking nice? As if one of you of your skill wasn't enough? Man, I must be good at what I'm doing if it takes three of you cunts.  
_  
This time, I broke immediately to my left, losing all of my momenta in order to dodge the three arrows. They flew by me in an instant, whistling and crackling loudly. The fact that they flew so fast was surreal. Before I even got to collect my bearings from having had broken my running, I sensed another set of arrows coming my way. Again, I broke towards the left with the same result coming to be.

 _At this rate, they'll have me pinned in the middle of the open. I can't move forward or back anymore. God dammit. There's no cover and I have no shield or armor. This sword isn't going to save me from this distance either.  
_  
One set after the other forced to dash heavily to my left or right. After a while, the limits of being human was beginning to set in. My stamina was running out and my body would soon collapse if I ignored its need for a break. In the end, I had no other option other than just running towards the village. At this point, with no other options left to be considered, I simply ran straight for the buildings.

The arrows barely missed me every time as I tried to dodge them. Whoever was shooting was clearly getting better the closer I got. Before I knew it, my clothes were getting caught by the arrowheads. It wasn't long before my own shirt was nearly nonexistent by the sides. It also wasn't long before the arrows were managing to graze my skin too. As a natural process of nature, it also wasn't long before I would suffer an injury.

Due to my reckless approach, and due to the attacker's amazing marksmanship, right before I was clear to wedge and run between the village houses, I caught an arrow to my upper left arm. In an instant, the arrowhead that bored itself into my shoulder burned my skin from the inside. It felt as if someone had stuck a hot knife into my body. The adrenaline in my body began to pump as a result and now there was hot red blood running down my arm. As much as I wanted to, I had to stop myself from screaming. I had finally made it to the little web of alleys of the village houses and I could use them to my advantage for stealth. Screaming would completely compromise that ability so I had to restrain as much sound as I could from myself.

 _Fucking hell this hurts... So I take one to the leg and now another one to the arm? This is great! Is God aiming to hit all of my limbs or something? Fucking hell... Where to now? I have no knowledge of this current situation as it is. My best bet would be escaping, but considering the fact that there is only one exit from here, it would be obvious that they will have it guarded. That being the case, then what? I'm not armed properly for direct confrontation. Not only that, but I'm already disabled by one arm. I'm injured and bleeding, and I have no way to speed up the healing process.  
_  
As if on cue, my arm was beginning to emit a red glow, signifying natural regeneration was about to begin. Considering the fact that it is night time, this red light would expose me easily between these dark alleyways. With hurry, I ended up running as far into the village as I could where the houses were the densest and clustered and before I could even reason, I just got in one of the many houses in the village. I immediately closed the door and ran to the basement of the house I was in.

I searched the storage and managed to find the average case of medical needs in one of the chests. There were numerous bandages along with some water. It wasn't anything special to treat myself with as the stronger things were all in my own home. Thanks to the natural regeneration, most of the pain was gone, but the wound was obviously not gone in itself and therefore treating it was problematic. Pulling out the arrow would result in heavier bleeding and might be a risk depending on how long my regeneration takes. I may be lucky and may only have to deal with a hole, or I may be unlucky and may have to deal with more than just patching a hole in my body.

I didn't have much time to think so I simply decided to take the reckless route again. Without letting myself think any further, I pulled out the arrow and immediately went to work on the hole. I wasn't able to feel any pain but I knew damn well to not be careless. My own blood was pouring out, but considering the lack of nausea and great mental stability, I knew that any veins or arteries were somehow healed already. Now, it was all nothing more than lightly cleaning and patching. I didn't know what to exactly do since it wasn't often that I got injured like this, so I simply wrapped my shoulder heavily and hoped for the best.

The good news was that the light was no longer showing, meaning that now it was all healing from the inside invisibly and that what I had just done was enough for me to be considered stable, somehow. The bad news was that the pain returned and that I was still disabled. There is no way I can use my left arm which is a pain since I'm dominant with my left. I can barely swing my broadsword without my dominant, neither will I be able to effectively use my dagger either. My means of self-defense is crippled. At this point, a shield is my only hope along with armor, but all of that garbage is at my main house. Everything is in the main house.

 _Man, for being the person who created this whole place, I never really took into consideration the threat of it being infiltrated. I'm helpless when the main points of interests are easy to spot for the enemy. What should I do? It won't be long until they find me within one of these houses.  
_  
I looked around the mostly empty basement in hopes that I might find something useful, but in the end, I was only able to find emptiness and garbage. There was nothing in my immediate surroundings that could help me. At this point. my best bet would be to hide. I didn't really have much of a choice. No matter what I do, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get caught. At this point, I might as well just wait. Not like I give a shit about anything, in particular, to begin with.

Before my thoughts could become darker, I ended up walking outside the basement and towards the front door of the house. With some desire, because I still had some, I chose to test my luck. I was curious. I wanted to know how much I could do in my condition right now. I didn't really have much to lose at this point.

With choice, I put down my iron broadsword and chose to stick to my dagger instead. In this condition, the smaller the weapon, the better for my cause. I then walked out the front door quietly, paying very close attention to my surroundings. I didn't know who I was dealing with, but I can guess pretty damn well that their strength was some form of stealth and assassination. It was natural considering the fact that I have yet to confirm who I'm dealing with. For all I know, they could be invisible.

Very slowly I walked between the houses, trying my best to work with my injury which was straining me to the depths of hell. I didn't really have an exact plan as to what I wanted to do.

 _Should I aim for my home to arm and supply myself? Should I aim for the main gate and escape right off the bat instead? Or should I just see how many I can get rid of before it is all over? I guess I'll take things by steps. First, I need to reach my house. I know for a fact that I have a healing potion in one of the locked chests in the case of an emergency, so if I can get to it, I can then aim to arm myself and then I can go ahead and see how much carnage can unfold.  
_  
Carefully as always, I walked between the alleyways of the houses. Due to the fact that I built this whole village, it was only natural that I knew my way around. It was a good thing that I built the place on such a grand scale. It made it easier to maintain a low profile.

I walked and walked until I came across a pathway. I was nearing the original stone pathway that leads to the open bath. Very slowly, I walked until I reached the edge of one of the houses that I was sticking my body to for cover. From my position and angle, I was able to get a view of the area in front of my house while being hidden by the shadows. I looked around carefully and tried to examine everything within my field of view. First, I noticed that there were two people standing guard in front of my house. They seemed to be armed with bows, but I couldn't tell well if they had anything else as they were wearing cloaks. They were standing right on the porch, ready and on alert to fire.

Next, I looked towards the rooftops. Luckily, I wasn't seeing anyone up there, meaning that I was clear of any enemies from the opposite side. The only problem is the fact that I wouldn't be able to confirm whether or not there were any on the rooftops on the side of the pathway that I was. Of course, for the sake of the plan, I'll just assume there are and that they have a view on the front door and the pathway leading both to the bath and the main gate. Next, I tried my best to look into the windows of my home. Unfortunately, I was barely able to see some movement from inside. I was capable of spotting moving shadows, but I wasn't able to focus on how many there were. The fact that there are people in my house is problematic in itself, but to know that I can't count the number of enemies made everything even trickier.

At this point, I had to try a little harder if I wanted to do something worthy of saving myself. I couldn't just run out there and my capability of maintaining stealth was low when I was severely outnumbered. I had to try a little harder.

 _Let's see how well I can measure up among these cunts._

Slowly I closed my eyes and let my vision become engulfed in darkness. Then, I began to concentrate on my surroundings, trying to visualize everything around me as best as I could. Slowly, in place of darkness, I began to see lines, thin little red lines, signifying the edges of the objects and buildings in front of me. Little by little, the detail of my view became clearer and clearer, allowing me to fully recognize the area around me.

Without greater delay, I was able to see absolutely everything with my eyes closed. Everything was tinted red and was a little distorted, but it was clear enough to see well, even within the darkness. Once I was comfortable with my cleared view, I then tried my best to focus on the people around me. With extreme strain, I focused my mind, trying my best to sense anything that was alive. I tried to visualize as much detail as I could.

After a moment, the sound of multiple heartbeats started to resonate loudly within my ear, and accompanying the sounds were humanoid figures that were beginning to grow bright yellow. Every time their hearts thumped, they would send off little waves in my sight, revealing each other to my sight, allowing me to see each and every one of them, even through walls.

Over and over again, I kept hearing little thumps while I looked around. I scanned everywhere around me to get as much information as I could. By the looks of everything, there were three people on the rooftop on the building right in front of my home, there were two stationed outside, and there were three in the inside who were all spread throughout the basement, first floor, and second floor of my home. Apart from all of those in my immediate area, I also took notice of some fain figures far away towards my right. The best assumption would be that there are some hostiles watching the entrance, meaning that an escape is no longer an option.

After my assessment, I slowly opened my eyes, causing my vision to become severely brighter, however, after a moment of focus, my vision then became bearable and clear again, the red tint and the glowing figures still remaining.

 _Good, now I have their constant location, so unless they do something severely unexpected, I have the advantage. I know exactly where each and every one of them is and they probably have no exact clue on where I am. Now, the question is, what will be my approach? Those three on the roof of this building I'm next to are the biggest threat. They're all scanning the area around them with attention, so sneaking across the street is a no go._

 _Those stationed in front of my house are no problem, I could just enter the house from the back, and if those inside stay separated, it will be easy to get rid of them without gaining any attention. It's just those three up there that are my chaos factor. What the hell can I do to get rid of them? If I can't get rid of them, then escaping will be my second plan, but who knows how many of them are back there._

Clearly just thinking about it wasn't going to work, so instead, I began moving instead. First, I walked around the building in which the rooftop rangers were located, and tried to see if I had a better angle of approach. Little by little, I moved around, avoiding any chance of them turning towards me and checking my alley. After a while, I had the building of the rooftops to my right and had a more direct sight on the house's door. The two stationed were now looking in directions that, from their point of view, would not give them a good angle of where I was. If I moved, it would be easy for them to miss me.

The three on top of me were still looking around, moving as I was able to see them through the building itself. They kept rotating as if they were the ends of a cog, barely leaving an apparent blind spot. I still had no idea how to move them.

"Hey, the Lead want you three back at the entrance." All of a sudden, a slightly distorted voice echoed into my ear from the roof above. I looked up to see a fourth being standing still.

"What for? We're not done here. We haven't found the straggler." One of the rooftop rangers answered.

"Doesn't matter, get back to the front, the Lead wants you three there. Your roles will change." Without any response, all four of the rooftop rangers disappeared and moved away at once, their figures barely noticeable in my sight due to their distance.

 _You're kidding me. Do they have some form of teleportation? And their roles are going to change? God dammit, this may not work in my favor at all._

Very quickly, I looked to the two stationed in front of my house and looked for them to create a blind spot for themselves. Luckily, the two seemed to have their attention taken by the rooftops who had all of the suddenly moved away, and immediately I went to moving across the street.

As quickly and quietly as I could, I ran across the smooth stone walkway and ended up on the sidewall of my house. I looked at my house to see that the three inside were still separated, all of them stagnant in place either crouching or slouching, meaning that they were looting my items in my drawers and chests.

 _Good. This is the most optimal behavior in order for me to deal with you all._

I walked around my house and headed towards my back door. Once I was there, I slowly and carefully opened the door, paying close attention to the three figures around the house. The one on my floor was around my storage area, so from my location, he was only a couple of rooms away as I was in an empty hallway. He was far away enough from the main entrance so that I could have an easy chance of not alerting the two stationaries outside, and I was confident that the ones above and below wouldn't be able to tell anything as the floors and roofs were solid and somewhat noise-proof.

Slowly and placidly I walked over to him with my dagger in my injured free hand, readying myself to be able to land any lethal blows to end it quickly and silently. It wasn't long before I was behind the opponent who was immersed in inspecting what was my newly made equipment meant for my plans tomorrow. At that very moment, he was holding an iron ax, looking at the handle slowly, as if inspecting it carefully of its craftsmanship.

Without hesitation, I immediately lunged my dagger right into his back with my pained left arm while covering its mouth with my right hand. Before they had a chance to give any sort of a reaction, I pulled out my dagger out of their back and lifted it and then jammed it right where their neck was. In an instant, its body went limp and there was no sign of life from it. As confirmation, the beating of its heart was no longer audible and in my ear and his yellow visual became darkened until I could barely tell he was in my grasp.

 _One down, two more to go._

Delicately, I placed the body down on my floor, taking note of the fact that my arm was covered in blood. As a result of my kill, now my visioned seemed keener and clearer, and my senses have heightened the point where I was able to hear breathing that wasn't mine. I was getting sharper.

With my new found strength, I then dragged the body quietly but quickly towards the back door. Once there, I opened the door and then laid the body outside and into one of the bigger bushes, hiding the body from a careless sight.

I then went back inside and made my way upstairs. As if I was walking between mines, I walked towards the front area of the first floor near the entrance and then walked up the stairs silently, thanking myself for making them incapable of creaking. My eyes were glued to the figure who was moving about in the area that seemed to be my room. Seeing the way they moved, I planned my next approach accordingly.

Once I was done with the stairs, I walked down the second-floor hallway until I reached my door. I looked at the figure as they were standing in place towards the side of my room which had the window. Due to the way they were inclining their body, it was clear that they were looking out the window. Soon after, they retracted their body and began walking in my direction.

"There's nothing worth in this floor." It seemed they were dissatisfied with my personal longing area. Regardless, I waited by my door on the side the door would not be falling on, allowing me to have a clear and easy opening for an attack.

Just as I was secretly hoping, the intruder didn't want to be in my room anymore, and as a result, they opened the door. I was able to tell that this particular one was actually holding a weapon, probably a knife of some sort due to the look of his hands having had been retracted into his waist area. The second I was able to see his weapon poking through the doorway, I immediately rushed it and used my right hand to restrain his armed hand, smoothly following up with my left hand as I lunged my bloody dagger towards its chest. Quickly, I retracted my dagger out of his chest and then lunged at their neck before they could even make the slightest noise. Just like before, his body went limp the instant I had succeeded, his weapon dropping on my leg signifying the lifeless state they were now in. Just as before, I delicately lowered their body on the floor before moving away.

 _Two down, one more…_

With my new found kill, my abilities found themselves a new strength. Now, I was able to clearly see any living being in my vicinity. As I turned all over, I was able to see sharpened and strong yellow visuals of what was everyone in my village. I was capable of even counting every single one as they were that clear and distinguishable for me. Not only that, but I felt energized. I felt as if I was on top of the world. I felt lighter. I felt strong.

All over my ears, I heard breathing and hearts beating, all of them were resonating as if they were melodies to my mind. This was getting easier by the second.

As if I was a drone, I made my way to my basement. Out of the three, the one in the basement was going to be the easiest as that basement was essentially soundproof. I can easily wager that no matter how loud I could be, no one would be able to hear anything, and that was great for me.

Once again I sneaked by the stationaries outside and made my way to the basement. I watched the last figure closely as they were crouched, stagnant in position. Once I was in my basement, it wasn't hard to navigate. Down here, the lights were barely on, but for my eyes, it was if the sun was already in here. I could see every little detail and corner without any problem. At this point, I simply sneaked behind my opponent. This one was fairly simple of an affair.

Once I was right behind them, I grabbed them and pulled them towards me and in one instantaneous motion, I shoved my dagger right into their neck. They had no chance to do absolutely anything as their life was over as quickly as one could blink. Finally, my first objective was complete.

 _Now… Who's next?_


End file.
